Back in July, Texas was out of drought danger altogether, but the summer has brought new water woes.

The state has gone from 3% abnormally dry a few months ago to almost 60% abnormally dry or worse today, per the U.S. Drought Monitor. While Lake Travis has maintained its water level of around 667 feet from a low in January of 623 feet, southern Travis County is again in the lowest form of drought – abnormally dry.

There is some good news in that there is an anticipation of having a wet fall and winter.

It is official! The state of Texas is out of drought. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor only 3% of Texas remains “abnormally dry,” the lowest level of drought, with the rest of the state out of danger.

This is great news!

However, Austin Water is continuing Stage 2 Water restrictions because summer is the hottest months and reservoirs are still not up to capacity.

A spokesperson for Austin Water told KEYE-TV that “in the summertime, we typically we have high evaporation from the lakes so the city wants to be a little conservative.” He also said that Texas hasn’t recovered from the years of drought.

So make sure you keep to your watering days as Austin Water is still enforcing the restrictions. In June, 44 citizens received citations for not doing so. That is significantly down from June of last year.

At the end of April, Lake Travis was sitting at 37% of its capacity with every indication of going lower. However, the unexpected May deluge has brought the lake back up to 80% capacity, beyond the wildest expectations of anyone. But the rains have been both a blessing and curse. While water levels have dramatically increased, there has been a large human cost with lives lost in flash flooding and millions of dollars of property destroyed. And the rains look to continue during the next week.

Austin water restrictions are remaining at Stage 2. The storage capacity of both Lake Travis and Buchanan are still only at 67%.

So maintain your Stage 2 watering schedules but please keep your eyes peeled for flash flooding alerts to remain safe during further storms that may come through the area.

New year 2015 has gotten off to a promisingly wet start. Better yet, 2014 was one of the rainiest years Austin has seen in several years. But a recent report in the Austin Statesman suggests that residents mingle optimism with caution.

Though the city has received higher-than-average rainfall since the start of last year, the major reservoirs on which Central Texas relies remain about 66% below capacity. That’s because the amount of water that has flowed into the Highland lakes from streams and tributaries since the start of 2014 has been at a near record low.

The result? Lakes Travis and Buchanan, the main sources of water for the over one million Central Texas (including those living in Austin), are still at just over one third full. So while the lakes are not losing water, they also aren’t gaining any back.

But there’s hope. The federal Climate Prediction Center (CPC) has issued a forecast that calls for above-normal precipitation over the next three months. Meteorologists are predicting that the weather phenomenon known as El Niño will be especially active this winter. And when that happens, Texas typically receives heavier than normal rainfall.

In the meantime, Austin Water is attempting to delay further water restrictions for as long as it can. One way has been to hold water conservation workshops for residents. The more water Austinites can manage to save each day, the longer they can continue being able to water their lawns.

If you’re like most Austinites, you probably got caught in the round of powerful storms that hit the city last week. The downpour caused flooding and traffic problems; but chances are it also helped your lawn and garden, too. With a little luck, all that rain may also signal the beginning of the end of the drought that has plagued Central Texas since 2009.

According to myfoxaustin.com, water flow from surrounding creeks in the Austin area has helped aquifer levels rise nine feet in less than three weeks. Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District representative Brian Smith adds that if more heavy rains fall on Austin, the city could be out of aquifer drought by the end of 2013.

But the aquifer would have to rise another 10 feet. In the meantime, though, the Conservation District declared that it was easing water restrictions to Stage II Alarm. The last time the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District declared Austin to be out of a dry spell was in 2011.

Unfortunately, Highland Lakes are not filling up quite as quickly. For that to happen, the rains would have to fall over the entire Hill Country area. So Austin continues to remain in Stage II Water Restriction mode. This means outdoor watering using irrigation systems/sprinklers is limited to one day a week for all residential and commercial users: see http://www.austintexas.gov/department/drought-update for more information.

The experts at South Austin Irrigation believe that knowledge is power. Whether it’s about the record-breaking Texas drought or the latest irrigation technologies, you can always count on us to provide you with everything you need to keep your landscape looking beautiful regardless of weather conditions. Contact us today and experience the South Austin Irrigation difference!

Excellent, quality work. Matt, the owner, is reliable and explain all charges clearly, with options for how to repair.

Emanuel Saba

21:22 02 Mar 17

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David T

03:17 16 Oct 16

Matt with South Austin Irrigation has been my go-to irrigation company for many changes we've made to our yard over the last 4 years. We've done extensive rock work throughout the front and back yards (which required major irrigation changes); converted an entire zone of our irrigation system to a low-pressure drip irrigation system for my 1000 sq ft "in-ground" garden, plus a recent drainage project to top it off.
My experiences with South Austin Irrigation have always been good - Matt is professional and punctual, and has always known what to do to solve the issues I've thrown at him. I was using other companies before I found him, so I can say that his rates are very competitive as well.
Matt is a good communicator and doesn't mind taking time to explain the reasons for doing something one way or another, and then letting you make an informed decision about how you want to handle it. Of course, if you'd rather just stay out of it and let him make the decisions (I'm too curious for that!), he's more than capable of doing that as well.read more

Raymond Loren Naylor

14:56 02 Jan 12

Knowledgeable service technician. Work performed a quickly and efficiently. Pleased with ovaerall experience. Even helped understand importance of wartering timing.read more